Caturday Night at the Spinster's House

     Hello, everyone in happy fiber land! It's March fifth -- 56 days until May first, when Baltimoreans can safely put plants in the ground. I started 38 seeds today, all vegetables and a few herbs. I plant as much as my tiny yard can handle. Last year, I planted cats. 

      They grew nicely.

     I always get anxious in March. I feel like it's been winter for months, and I've knitted and spun everything and I just want to get out and get my hands in the dirt (Maryland clay, actually, but I've augmented it). But it can still snow, and freeze, and sleet, all the way into May -- so the best I can do now is put up seeds, and keep knitting and spinning.
 
      There are times when I like to spin more than I like to knit. Then there are times when I go months without going near my spinning wheel, except to re-hang the orifice hook when the cats knock it off. I have a Kromski Prelude, as I've said before, and a nice variety of hand spindles (that I hope to expand even more, after the 2011 MD Sheep and Wool).

   

     I have been thinking about a handspun swap for some time now, and I never seem to catch a live one on Ravelry. Does anyone know if there is a blog ring for fiber swapping, something along the lines of Finished Object Friday, or Fiber Arts Friday? Now that I'm not in school anymore, I -- oh, I forgot to blog about that, didn't I? Well, as of 15 February 2011, this is my major accomplishment:

     The degree that was 24 years in the making! Long story short, I started taking college classes in 1987, and last month, I finally finished a degree. I have been to two brick-and-mortar schools and one online university. I had the GI Bill and a fondness for literature, and now I have a degree. It took a long time to get it, but it was in my own time and at my own pace (except for those goshawful 8 week condensed classes, which necessitated long hours studying and writing every day after work).

     In fiber news, I have bound off and blocked the honey clover shawlette made with Wonder Why alpaca. I went to Joanne's today and spent a lovely half hour searching for beads to match. I selected and discarded a few options, keeping them all in my hand, until I found the perfect beads. Glass, purple, with wire around them, and big holes for threading. Want to see them? Here they are! 

     Oh, you can't see them? That's because there is a CAT SITTING ON THEM.

     Here is the shawl. I almost don't want to show this photo, because it's such an un-pretty setup ... but I have a terrible time blocking. I hate crawling around the floor, and bending over my craft table makes my back hurt.  I fantasize about a wall made entirely of cork (that's an odd fantasy, I know, but now you understand why I'm a spinster). Then I could spread my goodies out and block them at standing-up level. Lacking that magical wall, I rigged up an awful hanging setup in the spare room. I fully expect this to come crashing down tonight while I'm sleeping, scaring me awake and freaking out the cats.

     But if it stays up, and I can just be patient, I will have a lovely alpaca wrap to wear to work Monday. And my colleagues shall look upon it and weep with envy.

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
  --Percy Bysshe Shelley, "Ozymandias"